EGGPLANT SATSIVI

Satsivi (Georgian: საცივი) is a thick paste made from walnuts and served cold (‘Tsivi’ means ‘cold’ in Georgian). It is used in a variety of meat (usually chicken and turkey), fish and vegetable dishes. In this recipe we show how to make eggplant satsivi.

Preparation (eggplant): Slice the eggplants and add to a pan with 6 tbs of oil. Fry (covered) on a medium heat until one side is fried. Remove cover and fry the other side.

Preparation (walnut paste): In the traditional recipe, new walnuts are crushed and then the walnut oil extracted by hand. The extracted oil (usually about 2 tsp) is poured onto the dish before serving. This adds additional flavor. The process of extracting the oil is long and strenuous. We did this when preparing the dish but it is not absolutely essential and the process described below omits this step.

Grind the walnuts and garlic together (we used a meat grinder) and add to a mixing bowl. Crush the cloves and add to the bowl, together with 1 tsp of dried blue fenugreek, 1 tsp of dried marigold, 1 tsp of dried coriander, 1 quarter tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp dried hot red pepper and salt.

Mix thoroughly.

The mixture will look like the picture below.

Add 1 tbs of vinegar and then gradually add boiled, cooled water, mixing as the water is added.

Keep adding a little water until the paste has a consistency like the one in the picture below. Leave for 2 hours.

Serving: Pour the walnut paste onto the fried eggplant and allow to stand for at least half an hour before serving. We garnished ours with pomegranate seeds.

Enjoy your Eggplant Satsivi!

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